A diet heavy in beans improved blood glucose and blood pressure (BP), a Canadian study has shown. Researchers found that people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) who ate legumes daily for 3 months.
The study participants (n=121) followed a healthy diet either high in wheat fibre or high in legumes. Those on the bean diet ate about 1 cup of legumes a day for 3 months. Study participants did not report any gastrointestinal problems.
The low-GI legume diet reduced HbA1c by −0.5% and the high wheat fibre diet reduced HbA1c by −0.3%. The relative reduction in HbA1c values after the low-GI legume diet was greater than after the high wheat fiber diet by −0.2%. The respective CHD risk reduction on the low-GI legume diet was −0.8%, largely owing to a greater relative reduction in systolic blood pressure on the low-GI legume diet compared with the high wheat fiber diet (−4.5 mm Hg).
The authors concluded that legume consumption of approximately 190g per day (1 cup) seems to contribute to a low-GI diet and reduce CHD risk through a reduction in BP.
The study is published in Archives of Internal Medicine.
